Door for fire boxes of oil burning locomotives



y 1935. c. F. GERLINGER 2,002,029

DOOR FOR FIRE BOXES OF OIL BURNING LOCOMOTIVES Filed June 23, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l ('ar/ E fer/dryer May 21, 1935. c. F. GERLINGER 2,002,029

DbOR FOR FIRE BOXES OF OIL BURNING LOCOMOTIVES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 23, 1934 III I Patented May 21, 1935 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE noon FOR-FIRE Boxes or OIL BURNING v LOCOMOTIVES Carl F; Gerlinger, Dallas, Oreg. Application June 23, 1934, Serial No. 732,111

" t Claims. 3(01. 110-175) The object of my inventionis to promotemore complete combustion in oil burning locomotives by providing the firebox door with an air admitting inlet adapted to preheat in part and efliciently distribute theair admitted into the firebox.

I have discovered not only that efficient air distribution into the firebox promotes more compiete combustion, thus causing steam to be'gen erated more quickly, but, also, that inefiicient distribution of the air 7 into the firebox wastes fuel by causing incomplete combustion, increases accumulation of carbon, and increases-maintenance cost of the firebox. by permitting cold air to strike heated piatesflues, etc.

A further object of my invention is to prevent flame flashes being emitted from the firebox into the cab, or flashes and flares being projected underneath the engine, which arenot only annoying but dangerous at night because of their blinding effect.

I attain the above stated objects of my invention by providing the firebox with a door having an anterior chamber, provided with a dampercontrolled air inlet at the bottom, and an interior extension into the firebox; by dividing the air. passing into the firebox into courses; by preheating theair; and by restraining the passage of the air by back walls and baiilesso arranged as to divert and distribute'the air in relatively proportioned amounts, all resulting in producing efficient combustion. Said results I obtain by the construction hereinafter fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: i I r Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing the door frame of the firebox and the door hinged thereto; the door hinge being arranged to permit the door to be slid into: and'out of the door .frame for the closing and opening of the door, and entirely clearing the opening into the firebox;

Fig, 2 is a central, longitudinal, sectional view showing a portion of the walls of the firebox, the

door frame secured thereto, and the .door; the latter having an anterior chamber and an zannular interior extension into the door frame;

' Fig. 3 shows a front elevation of the door frame,

and a front view of the annular interior extension of the door locking in from the plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, at the transverse perforated back wall located in the upper partof the annular interior extension ofthe door; 1

Fig. i .isa fragmentary section showingia. portion of the door frame and ofthe door, the section of the latter being taken on a transverse plane indicated bythe arrow 4 ofFig. 2;.

. Fig. 5' is a fragmentary, sectional top view of a wall of the firebox, the door frame secured thereto, and of the firebox door, this view alsoillustrating the hinging of the "door so that it may be slid into and out of the door frame, for clos- 5 ing and opening; the door being shown in full lines in its closed position, and in broken and dotted lines in its slid-out positions, being finally positioned for being swung out of the way on its hinges; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic drawing of the interior of the end of the firebox illustrating the courseof the flame after striking the fire wall.

The door frame a is secured to therboiler b by screws or bolts 0. The door, which is,hinged to the door frame :1, comprises an anterioii chamber ,7 carrying the front wall 9 and an annular interior extension 6. The annular interionchamber ev of the door is made with two horizontal battles it and i, with a pair of notched lugs 70 and It attached to the annular wall at the frontl and similar notched lugs m attached to the annular wall at the rear. The anterior chamber 1 of the door is made with a transverse plate n at the rear, provided with a broadcurved slot opening q conformingto the shape of the lower half of the annular interior extension e. The transverse r plate 11. and front wall a are connectedby a tubular flue or sanding passageway p made integral with them. The interior extension e and :an-

terior chamber 7 of the door are fastened together by bolts (1 and :1, extending from the front wall gto the notched lugs k. The bottom of the anterior chamberf of the door is rectangular in cross-section; it iso-pen and provides the passageway q bywhich' the air enters the firebox door. This passageway is fitted with a damper 1' controlled by ahandle r.

A door s pivoted on the front wall 9 at 5 normally closes the entrance into the sanding pas- 40 sagewayp and rests on the curved flange p at the bottom of the opening to the sanding passageway. A transverse plate t is carried by the rear end of the interior extension e, and is attached to the interior extension by bolts 15 held Theanterior chamber of the door made with a flange if provided with a pair of lugs u and 11., which, together with a similar pair of lugs o and 1; provided on the door frame a support the double hinge on which the chambered door is hung to the door frame. The double hinge consists of the two members 10 and w which are pivoted on the lugs u, u and o, 12, respectively, the members w and w being pivoted to each other at their outer ends by the pin w2. A handle g is attached to the front face g of the door.

The action of the double hinge in the opening of the door is clearly seen in reference to Fig. 5. The closed door is first pulled straight out in the direction indicated by the arrow and takes the position shown by the broken line. The two members to and w of the hinge are moved into the positions indicated by the broken lines at w3 I and w4, respectively. When the door is pulled still further forward it takes the position indicated by the dotted line, and the hinge members are moved into the position indicated by a: (Fig. 5). The door can now be swung open and the interior extension 6 will entirely clear the door frame. When the door is closed it is fastened by a pin y in the lug y, or by some similar means.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the course of the air thru my door into the firebox is indicated by the arrows. The air enters the door thru the passageway q, the damper 1" being open. A portion of the entering air passes thru the curved slot past the lower portion of the wall of the interior extension e directly into the firebox. With the door as illustrated approximately 30% of the air entering the passageway q will pass thru the curved slot 0. This passage of air performs the additional service of cooling the bottom of the interior extension e.

Theother air entering the passageway q passes around the wall of the sanding passageway 10 t0 the upper portion of the anterior chamber f and into the upper half of the annular interior extension e. A portion of this air will enter the firebox thru the passageway e around the plate 1 t; a portion will pass thru the perforations t3'in the plate t; and the remaining air will be drawn downward past the bafiies h and z and under the bottom of the plate 1.. By the described construction of my door approximately 40% of the air entering the passageway q passes thru the perforations t3 in the plate 8; 10% passes around the plate 25 and e; and 20% passes under the plate t.

The proportions are of course mere approximations and can be varied by changing the relative proportions of the curved slot 0, the size and number of the perforations t3, and the width of the passageway e. The latter is readily adjusted by changing the length of the bosses or washers t2 spacing the plate t from the rear of the interior extension e. However, I have found by actual test that the distribution of the air fed into the firebox in accordance with the above percentages produces best results. .I make the distance e between the plate t and interior extension 6 approximately inch. The area of the slot opening 0, I make approximately 31 square inches, as compared to the opening above the transverse plate n which has an area of approximately 70 square inches. The area of the passageway e is approximately 10 square inches with the spacing as mentioned, and the area of the interior exits of the perforations 153 in the plate t as drawn is approximately 41 square inches.

The door 8 of the sanding passageway 10 is of course kept tightly closed-except when it-is desired to sand the flues, in which case the damper r is closed and the door is opened.

In Fig. 6, 2 denotes the fiash wall, and the arrows indicate the course of the flame after striking the flash wall. This diagram shows how the air admitted thru my chambered door mixes with the flame to promote proper combustion and more efficient heating of the boiler.

In order to eliminate any possibility of cracking in the interior extension of my door due to expansion and contraction caused by heat changes, I provide a slot h and a slot 2" extending across the bafiies h and 1', respectively, and a similar slot ea in the bottom of the annular interior extension e.

I claim: Y

1.' In combination with a locomotive firebox, a chambered door, comprising an anterior chamber provided with a damper controlled air inlet at the bottom, and an interior preheating chamber, a transverse slotted wall between such chambers, said wall being spaced from the top of said chambers andconstructed to block communication between said chambers except at their upper portions and thru said slot, and a transverse perforated wall having the lower edge thereof spaced from the bottom of said preheating chamber and being located between the upper portion of said preheating chamber and thefirebox, and horizontal staggered baflies in said preheating chamber, located between the top of said transverse slotted wall and the bottom of said transverse, perforated wall, whereby to retard and divide into courses the air passing into the firebox from the upper portion of the preheating chamber under the last mentioned wall, whereby to effect preheating of the air before entering the firebox.

2. In combination with a locomotive firebox, a chambered door, comprising an anterior chamber provided with a damper controlled air inlet at the bottom, and an interior preheating chamber, a transverse slotted wall between such members, said wall beingspaced from the top of said chambers and constructed to block communication between said chambers except at their upper portions and thru said slot, and a transverse perforated wall having the lower edge thereof spaced from the bottom of said preheating chamber and being located between the upper portion of said preheating chamber and the firebox, the latter wall provided with a perimetrical air passage, and horizontal staggered bailles in said preheating chamber, located between the top of said transverse slotted wall and the bottom of said transverse, perforated wall, whereby to retard and divide into courses the air passing into the firebox from the upper portion of the preheating chamber under the last mentioned wall, whereby to effect preheating of the air before entering the firebox.

3. The combination with a firebox of a door frame secured to the wall of the firebox, a chambered door hinged on said door frame, said door having an anterior chamber with a damper-controlled air inlet at the bottom and an interior .preheating chamber, a transverse, slotted wall between such chambers, said wall being spaced from the top of said chambers and constructed to block communication between said chambers except at their upper portions and thru said slot, a transverse, perforated preheating wall having the lower edge thereof spaced from the bottom of said preheating chamber and being located between the upper portion of said preheating chamber and the firebox, horizontal, staggered baflies in said preheating chamber, located between the top of said transverse slotted wall and the bottom of said transverse perforated preheating wall, whereby to retard the passage of air from the upper portion of said preheating chamber under said preheating wall and into the firebox.

4. The combination with a firebox of a door frame secured to the Wall of the firebox, a chambered door supported on said door frame by a toggle hinge, said door having an anterior chamber with a damper-controlled air inlet at the bottom and an interior preheating chamber, a transverse, slotted wall between such chambers, said wall being spaced from the top of said chambers and constructed to block communication between said chambers except at their upper portions and thru said slot, a transverse, perforated preheating wall having the lower edge thereof spacedfrom the bottomof said preheating chamber and being located between the upper portion of said preheating chamber and the firebox, horizontal, staggered bailies in said preheating chamber, located between the top of said transverse slotted wall and the bottom of said transverse perforated preheating Wall, whereby to retard the passage of air from the upper portion of said preheating chamber under said preheating wall and into the firebox.

5. The combination with a firebox of a door frame secured to the wall of the firebox, a chambered door supported on said door frame by a toggle hinge, said door having an anterior chamber with a damper-controlled air inlet at the bottom and an interior preheating chamber, a transverse, slottedwall between such chambers, said wall being spaced from the top of said chambers and constructed to block communication between said chambers except at their upper portions and thru said slot, a transverse, perforated preheating wall having the lower edge thereof spaced from the bottom of said preheating chamber and being located between the upper portion of said preheating chamber and the firebox slightly spaced from the side walls of said preheating chamber, horizontal, staggered baflles in said preheating chamber, located between the top of said transverse slotted wall and the bottom of said transverse perforated preheating wall, whereby to retard the passage of air from the upper portion of said preheating chamber under said preheating wall and into the firebox.

6. The combination with afirebox of a door frame secured to the wall of the firebox, a chambered door supported on said door frame by a toggle hinge, said door having an anterior chamber with a damper-controlled air inlet at the bottom and an interior preheating chamber, a transverse, slotted wall between such chambers, said wall being spaced from the top of said chambers and constructed to block communication between said chambers except at their upper portions and thru said slot, a transverse, perforated preheating wall having the lower edge thereof spaced from the bottom of said preheating chamber and being located between the upper portion of said preheating chamber and the firebox slightly spaced from the side walls of said preheating chamber, horizontal, staggered bafilesdn said preheating chamber, located between the top of said transverse slotted wall and the bottom of said transverse perforated preheating wall,

whereby to retard the passage of air from the upper portion of said preheating chamber underfi 

